APAAN is a cousin to ABANF, of which we have already made a passing acquaintance. Apaan was originally spoken by the inhabitants of the slopes of a single extinct volcano, roughly the size of Olympus Mons; if the origin changes, you will be informed.

ag apt = Lit. "number without"; used for "without counting" such as - an unknown number, an unknowable number (like when the passenger pigeons blot out the sun - you wanna count them?)

an = name "particle"(or that was the original intent...things may have changed over the course of several pages)

an Alsa = Elsa.Except in the case of borrowings (see above), Apaan children tend to be named after terrifying and-or repulsive things. (I feel sorry for the kid whose mom was a tourist and saw someone choking to death on a hamburger)

an Akaasta [æk.æst.æ] = Tiger.

If a long vowel shifts, its word takes on a "not quite" implication...

an = name "particle"(or that was the original intent...things may have changed over the course of several pages)

an Alsa = Elsa.Except in the case of borrowings (see above), Apaan children tend to be named after terrifying and-or repulsive things. (I feel sorry for the kid whose mom was a tourist and saw someone choking to death on a hamburger)

an Akaasta [æk.æst.æ] = Tiger.

If a long vowel shifts, its word takes on a "not quite" implication...

Sorry for the lack of clarity, I was trying to ask about syllabification and how words are divided into syllables/what kind of syllables are allowed and which are the most common for different word roots.

[æk.æst.æ]
[ʔg.æs.æ:t]
[ʔj.pæs]
[d.æl]

The syllables in these words seem odd to me because there's never any maximization-of-onset, and there appear to be very few syllables that even have onsets. But there are also syllables that are composed of one or more consonants without a vowel. I was wondering if there are reasons for this pattern.

Sumelic wrote:Sorry for the lack of clarity, I was trying to ask about syllabification and how words are divided into syllables/what kind of syllables are allowed and which are the most common for different word roots.

ah; no, you were very clear - I just didn't know what you were asking.

[æk.æst.æ]
[ʔg.æs.æ:t]
[ʔj.pæs]
[d.æl]

The syllables in these words seem odd to me because there's never any maximization-of-onset, and there appear to be very few syllables that even have onsets.

onset?
I'm sorry for these questions, but I don't know what an onset is. (maybe I've been reading the wrong language books)

But there are also syllables that are composed of one or more consonants without a vowel.

well, the glottal stop functions as a vowel, at least for now (I may replace it in the future)...ones like your last example, I forgot to add the stop to in front of the d - mea culpa.

I was wondering if there are reasons for this pattern.

hm. this will be something I need to address when I finish making the syllabary (work began on it, just need to sort it & remove redundancies, etc)

in the meantime, thus far, the only pattern I intended was VC, with occasional -V word-final.

A word /baT/ where "b" would be the onset consonant, the "a" would be the nucleus, and "T" is the coda consonant.
In most languages, syllables to to have maximum onset, so /ak.at/ is more likely to become /a.kat/...

The syllables in these words seem odd to me because there's never any maximization-of-onset, and there appear to be very few syllables that even have onsets.

onset?
I'm sorry for these questions, but I don't know what an onset is.

OK. In the most common theories of syllabification, syllables are divided into onset, nucleus and coda; generally the onset is a consonant or consonant cluster that comes at the start of the syllable, and the nucleus is a vowel (the "main vowel"), with the coda being whatever comes after that. So in the English word "speak" /spik/, the /sp/ is the onset, the /i/ is the nucleus, and the /k/ is the coda. Some varieties of English are also analyzed as having consonants in the nucleus in some cases. (For example, the word "hurl" may be analyzed as /hr̩l/ with /r/ being the nucleus.)

As far as I know, all syllables have a nucleus. In fact, this is what makes them syllabic. But depending on the language, a syllable may not need to have an onset or coda. However, in general there is a preference across languages and within individual languages for syllables to have onsets. This is the principle of "maximizing onsets." In some languages, this preference has given rise to processes of syllabification or re-syllabification that act to give onsets to syllables that otherwise would not have any. For example, in French, one such process is called enchaînment and you can see it in the phonetic realization of the phrase "entre eux," ("between them"), [ɑ̃.tʁø]. (When pronounced word-by word, you get [ɑ̃tʁ(ə)] and [ø].)

This preference does not seem to exist in Apaan, however.

But there are also syllables that are composed of one or more consonants without a vowel.

well, the glottal stop functions as a vowel, at least for now (I may replace it in the future)...ones like your last example, I forgot to add the stop to in front of the d - mea culpa.

Thanks, that's the sort of thing I was wondering about!

I was wondering if there are reasons for this pattern.

hm. this will be something I need to address when I finish making the syllabary (work began on it, just need to sort it & remove redundancies, etc)

in the meantime, thus far, the only pattern I intended was VC, with occasional -V word-final.

Hmm, so is [ʔj.pæs] also meant to be split up another way, or are there some CVC syllables as well?

Sumelic wrote:The syllables in these words seem odd to me because there's never any maximization-of-onset, and there appear to be very few syllables that even have onsets.

onset?
I'm sorry for these questions, but I don't know what an onset is.

OK. In the most common theories of syllabification, syllables are divided into onset, nucleus and coda; generally the onset is a consonant or consonant cluster that comes at the start of the syllable, and the nucleus is a vowel (the "main vowel"), with the coda being whatever comes after that. So in the English word "speak" /spik/, the /sp/ is the onset, the /i/ is the nucleus, and the /k/ is the coda. Some varieties of English are also analyzed as having consonants in the nucleus in some cases. (For example, the word "hurl" may be analyzed as /hr̩l/ with /r/ being the nucleus.)

As far as I know, all syllables have a nucleus. In fact, this is what makes them syllabic. But depending on the language, a syllable may not need to have an onset or coda. However, in general there is a preference across languages and within individual languages for syllables to have onsets. This is the principle of "maximizing onsets." In some languages, this preference has given rise to processes of syllabification or re-syllabification that act to give onsets to syllables that otherwise would not have any. For example, in French, one such process is called enchaînment and you can see it in the phonetic realization of the phrase "entre eux," ("between them"), [ɑ̃.tʁø]. (When pronounced word-by word, you get [ɑ̃tʁ(ə)] and [ø].)

ah, okay. makes sense.

I guess I never considered onsets (under any name), because I thought things like that were found in CVC & CVCV & VCV(C) langs...[tad.baja.olot] to put them in one.

And then there were the CV and VC languages, where there were syllable breaks [ev.re tu] every two, and thus not leaving room for codas or onsets

This preference does not seem to exist in Apaan, however.

It will now.

I was wondering if there are reasons for this pattern.

hm. this will be something I need to address when I finish making the syllabary (work began on it, just need to sort it & remove redundancies, etc)

in the meantime, thus far, the only pattern I intended was VC, with occasional -V word-final.

Hmm, so is [ʔj.pæs] also meant to be split up another way, or are there some CVC syllables as well?[/quote]

I would guess [ʔj.ʔp.æs] was my intent...though I was going to ask in the Quick Questions later today, if glottal stops would shift, which would result in [ʔjʔ.pæs] or something like that.

NEWS REPORT: Plague has struck the lands of the Apaan-Abanf Language Family {Ap-Ab.L.F.}. Tseer medics have not as yet pinpointed the vector responsible, but feel confident the disease is on its last legs.

Already expanding, the Tseer nation has used this blight as a reason to expand into the Ap-Ab.L.F. region, so as to best tend to those sick and dying, as well as to defeat this disease before it spreads further.

Critics hold the Tseer are using this disaster to impose their own language upon the Ap-Ab.L.F. region. The Tseer flatly deny this accusation.

The only nation strong enough to stop any Tseer conquest, however, is the Gu -- but will they break their longstanding isolationist policy to intervene?

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
APAAN -
Notes: APAAN is a cousin to ABANF, of which we have already made a passing acquaintance. Apaan was originally spoken by the inhabitants of the slopes of a single extinct volcano, roughly the size of Olympus Mons; if the origin changes, you will be informed.
Phonetics - (under revision)
Classes -
TSEER:
GU:

This part of the conlang obeys a Mandarin-style layout:
CV.CV(C) is allowed
CVC.CV(C) is allowed.
CVC.V(C) is not allowed.
(like in Mandarin, an easy way to see if a given consonant is part of one syllable or another, is to look to its right; if there's a vowel, the consonant is part of that syllable with the vowel. if there is another consonant to its right, then its part of the preceeding syllable)

This part is known from texts and "billboards"...there's likely more words in spoken sentences, but they aren't written down. pro-drop scriptorally?

===========================================
PART TWO:
Inspired by Alabama...another side to Mutating Conlang: the Curse Tablets!

Whereas the preceeding parts of MC have obeyed a Mandarin-style CV(C).CVC, the curse tablets use words which obey strict CVCC.CVCC, and there is debate over whether this is evidence of a mixed language (as the VC prefixes are commonly accepted as originally loans picked up during the Migratory Phase), a division assigning CVCC and CVC to different aspects of the language, or an artifact of preservation, as CVC words are never found on curse tablets, just as CVCC words are only found on curse tablets.

AFFECTEDNESS-pa is a suffix which appears to only be attached on words serving as verbs when they are in a state of affectedness - actions performed directly with one's body (and descriptives derived from such things), and thus are frequently found in use alongside various reflexives...

ReflexivesREF1 and REF2

REF1 is used for deities and kings. If no king or deity is named, then assume it is referring to yourself or the author.
Hangshmotd iv-lortrirn lurdmirt-pa
[haNS.motd iv.lort.rirn lurd.mirt.pa]
(name) REF1-bestow bounty,riches
Hangshmotd gets riches
(or, more flowery, "Oh Lord Hangshmotd, of abundant bounty")